SiteName.com

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GALA DAY (19th Gateshead Civic Centre)

Website
Wordybug

Michael has lived in a number of places and has had an even larger number of jobs! After going to Art School he trained as a graphic designer and photographer. He soon became a freelance photographer, and his clients included the Financial Times, the News of the World and various advertising agencies. When Michael fancied a change he stored all his belongings and went to Paris, and later hitch-hiked across Europe, where he ended up picking apples on a kibbutz in Israel.

Michael has written several books for children, including The Poltergoose which actually started life as a slip of the tongue one breakfast time, and twenty minutes of scribbling later Michael had the bones of the plot, as well as the names of the Three Musketeers, "who were already answering back!". The Poltergoose was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Awards and this is the first title in the hilarious and acclaimed series about Jiggy McCue, the latest title being The Snottle.

Neville The Devil Orchard Books 1843628791	Nudie Dudie Orchard Books 1843626470
The Snottle Orchard Books 1843623447	The Killer Underpants Orchard Books 1841217131

Michael's new novel for young adult readers, A Crack in the Line, is the exciting first book in the Aldous Lexicon Trilogy. "A thought-provoking tale packed with mystery and suspense" - The Bookseller.

Michael now lives in Cambridgeshire, where he writes full time.

Publisher
Orchard Books
Chrysalis Books

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GALA DAY (19th Gateshead Civic Centre)

Louise Rennison lives in Brighton, a place that she likes to think of as the San Francisco of the South Coast. Which is sad as it is nothing like San Francisco, being mainly pebbles and large people in tiny swimming knickers who have gone bright red in the sun. Although she lives in Brighton in reality, in her mind she lives somewhere exotic with a manservant called Juan. This is because she lost her mind after Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging catapulted her into the spotlight of fame.

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging is the first book in the Georgia Nicolson series, written in a diary style. Georgia is fourteen and lives with her annoying parents, a three-year-old sister, who says things like, "Georgia did a big poo this morning" to prospective boyfriends, her half Scottish wildcat, Angus and has to wear a beret to school. She would, however, rather be blond, have a smaller nose, slimmer eyebrows and a have a Sex-God for a boyfriend.

Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers HarperCollins Children's Books 0007191480	And That's When It Fell Off in My Hands HarperCollins Children's Books 0007183208

The second book following Georgia's exploits is It's OK I'm Wearing Really Big Knickers, the third Knocked Out by My Nunga Nungas and the fourth Dancing in My Nuddy-Pants. And That's When It Fell Off In My Hand, Georgia's fifth adventure, will be published in June 2004 by HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks. Sales in UK for the series already top 400,000. Sales in US have been phenomenal - they top the million mark and the books have reached Number 1 on the New York Times Bestseller list.

Louise based several episodes in the books on her own childhood in Leeds, where she was bought up in a three-bedroomed council house with her mum, dad, grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousin. And characters such as Elvis the school-caretaker, Wet Lindsey, Herr Kaymer the German teacher and Angus himself are not entirely fictional!

Publisher
Harper Collins

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Northumberland (9th), Stockton (10th)

Having studied history at university, Pippa Goodhart completed a PGCE and taught as an infant school teacher before working for Heffer’s Children’s Bookshop in Cambridge. She began writing in 1993, when staying at home to look after her three daughters. Watching her children grow-up has given her material for her stories, and reminded her of her own childhood experiences.

Flow was the runner-up for the Kathleen Fidler Award, and also shortlisted for the Smarties Prize. Ginny’s Egg was shortlisted for the Young Telegraph Award. She has also written two Maxine and Minnie stories, Friends Forever and Kind of Twins.

Hoppy Birthday Jo-Jo! Egmont Books Ltd 1405208740	Fire Cat Egmont Books Ltd 1405201304
Dragon Boy Crabtree 0778710874	Frankie's Tree House Mammoth 0749739517

Pippa has written a number of titles for the Bananas reading series including; Catnapped, Dragon Boy, Happy Sad, Fire Cat and her latest title Hoppy Birthday, Jo-Jo for the new Green Banana range.

Publisher
Egmont Books

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GALA DAY (19th Gateshead Civic Centre)

Julia Donaldson started her career writing songs for children’s television. In 1993, one of her songs was made into a book, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE. Since then she has written over forty books and plays for children and teenagers, including the rhyming story THE GRUFFALO which won three major British book awards (the Smarties Prize, the Blue Peter award for “The Best Book to Read Aloud� and the Experian “Big Three� award) is published in 30 languages, has sold over 1 million copies world wide and remains the UK’s best-selling picture book. THE GRUFFALO’S CHILD, the long awaited sequel to THE GRUFFALO is due to be published in September 2004.

ROOM ON THE BROOM has also been shortlisted for four other book awards: the Children’s Book Award (administered by the National Federation of Children’s Book Groups) the Sheffield Children’s Book Award, WH Smith Book of the Year (NIBBIES) 2003, Spoken Word Award 2003 and winner of the Best Book to Read Aloud category of the Blue Peter Awards 2003.

Other books written by Julia and illustrated by Axel Scheffler are: MONKEY PUZZLE, FOX’S SOCKS, POSTMAN BEAR, RABBIT’S NAP and HIDE-AND-SEEK PIG. Their partnership continues with THE SMARTEST GIANT IN TOWN (about a giant who gives away all his clothes) which was shortlisted for the Red House Children’s Book Award 2003 and the Portsmouth Book Award 2003, a tenth anniversary edition of A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, celebrating ten years of collaboration between Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler and THE SNAIL AND THE WHALE which is shortlisted for the WH Smith Children's Book of the Year 2003.

Julia has also published a several novels. PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE was published in August 2003 and the sequel, PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE AND THE MAGIC SHOES is publishing in February 2005.

Julia has also worked with different illustrators. THE MAGIC PAINTBRUSH is a brilliant retelling of a classic folktale, which is illustrated by Joel Stewart. SHARING A SHELL, a rollicking story of sea, shells and friendship is due to be published in July 2004 and is illustrated by Lydia Monks.

Charlie Cook's Favourite Book Macmillan 1405034696	The Gruffalo's Child Macmillan 1405020466
Rosie's Hat Macmillan 0333999231	The Gruffalo Macmillan 0333710932

Julia is a frequent visitor to Scottish schools and libraries, where she talks, acts and sings with her audiences. For three years she was writer in residence in Easterhouse, which culminated in the publication of an anthology of writing and pictures by local adults, ALL WRITE (available from Ottakar’s Bookshop, Buchanan Galleries, Glasgow, price £3). Julia lives in Bearsden, Glasgow, with her husband Malcolm, their youngest son and three cats.

Publisher
Macmillan

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Newcastle (15th), Sunderland (16th),Hartlepool (17th)

Whether you are looking for fantasy adventures for the 8-12s or compelling teenage fiction, award-winning Nigel Hinton is your man.

THE BASICS
Born: London, September 28th 1941
Jobs: Advertising Account Executive, Swimming Pool Attendant, Teacher, Actor
Lives: East Sussex
First Book for Young People: Collision Course, 1974

THE BOOKS
Reading, cinema and rock music were of considerably more interest to the teenage Nigel Hinton than his schoolwork. Nigel has combined those passions and achieved success writing popular, prize-winning fiction both for the 8-12 year-old age range and for teenagers.

Nigel's first novel, Collision Course, was written during his nine year career as a teacher and began as a story to tell in class. Although he no longer teaches, Nigel frequently visits schools to talk about his books and test out reactions to new material.

One of the trademarks of Nigel’s writing is a distinctive brand of fantasy. In the Beaver Towers series of adventures, Philip and his friend Baby B must combat the wicked witch Oyin. In The Finders, Rosie agrees to post a parcel for a stranger, only to find herself spellbound by its contents. Out of the Darkness, for older readers, is the story of two young people born on the same day but thousands of miles apart. Liam and Leila may be leading very different lives, but their destinies are inextricably bound.

Buddy Puffin Books 0141319208	Time Bomb Puffin Books 0141318333	Beaver Towers: The Witch's Revenge Puffin Books 0140370617

In the best-selling Buddy trilogy, Nigel follows the fortunes of a teenage boy with an ambition to be a rock star. Buddy was adapted for BBC Schools TV. When the sequel, Buddy's Song, was made into a film, Nigel wrote not only the screenplay but nine of the songs included on the soundtrack (remember The One and Only sung by Chesney Hawkes?).

Publisher
Puffin

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Redcar (14th)

Lucy Lethbridge is a freelance journalist and literary editor of The Tablet.

She has written three books for the Short Books WHO WAS series Ada Lovelace, Computer Wizard of Victorian England, Annie Oakley Sharpshooter of the Wild West and Saint Francis of Assisi The Patron Saint of Animals.

Ada Lovelace Short Books 1904095763	St Francis of Assisi Short Books 1904977170	Annie Oakley Short Books 1904095607

Ada Lovelace Computer Wizard of Victorian England won the Blue Peter Book Award for Best Book with Facts 2002. Lucy was a Blue Peter judge in 2004 and also a judge on the Short Books The Times Great Young Historians competition.

She lives in Camden, London.

Publisher
Short Books

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Newcastle (17th), Middlesbrough (18th), GALA DAY (19th Gateshead Civic Centre)

Karate princesses, seasick pirates and demon vacuum cleaners...where else could these characters spring from but the playground that is the quirky imagination of Jeremy Strong?

THE BASICS
Born: Eltham, South East London, November 18th 1949
Jobs: Head Teacher, Teacher, Caretaker, Strawberry Picker,
Jam Doughnut Stuffer (yes, really!)
Lives: Somerset
First book: Smith's Tail, 1978

THE BOOKS
Jeremy Strong's work is characterised by humour and direct child appeal. He thinks his writing has been influenced most of all by Spike Milligan, but also by falling on his head when he was three years old. He was not allowed to read comics as a child, and consequently discovered The Beano at the formative age of sixteen. Jeremy Strong's ideas come from everywhere - his childhood, his children, over-hearing conversations, something he sees - and he constantly makes notes.

Pirate School: Bun Gun Puffin Books 0141319267	Stuff Puffin Books 0141319038	The Beak Speaks Puffin Books 0141315733

WHAT HE SAYS...
"My sense of humour got stuck at age ten."

"When I was about eighteen I started writing very serious stories for adults, but none of them was published. By the time I was twenty-one I was writing stories for children and I quickly realised that I loved writing funny stories and making people laugh."

"I have no axes to grind, and no neuroses to reveal. (At least, I don't think I have. You may think otherwise.)"

AWARDS:
The Children's Book Award 1997 for The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog
The Sheffield Children’s Book Award 1998 (Shorter Novel category) for Pirate Pandemonium
The Sheffield Children’s Book Award 2000 (Shorter Novel category) Highly Commended for Dinosaur Pox

Publisher
Puffin

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Hartlepool (15th), Redcar (16th)

As a child
I don't remember a time when I wasn't utterly besotted with animals. I spent all my time before I went to school, in the garden with my lovely Grandpa (who was small and round and had all sorts of things in his cardigan pockets) looking at flowers, and ants and bird's nests. My parents moved around quite a lot so I was always the new girl in school, which meant I spent a lot of time on my own reading and thinking... still my two favourite recreational activities. What finally saved me at school was that I learnt to make people laugh. But I was still always, mostly myself alone, out in the fields in Suffolk where my parents then lived, walking my dog and listening to the skylarks.

Ice Bear Walker Books ISBN:1844287319	Poo Walker Books ISBN: 1844287513	Surprising Sharks Walker Books ISBN:1844284581

As an adult
I did a zoology degree and went on to study various animals in the wild; bats, geese, whales... Then I went to work at the BBC Natural History Unit, first as a researcher and later a presenter on The Really Wild Show. TV was fun for a while, but I really hated the pressure. The good thing about it was that it allowed me to earn money, and still have time for my kids when they were little. I've loved being a mum, absolutely adored it. Some of my happiest memories are of reading my kids books I loved as a child - books like the Lord of the Rings. I can still make my daughter squeal by doing my 'Gollum' voice!

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Sunderland (16th), North Tyneside (17th)

On the Web
www.helena-pielichaty.com

Helena Pielichaty (pronounced Pierre-li-hatty) was born in Stockholm, Sweden and moved to England when she was five. Her writing career started at the age of eleven when the Yorkshire Post published her poem, Litter, hailed, as Helena puts it, 'as a literary triumph by my grandma'.

Helena's writing career was then put on hold for twenty years while she did other things, such as working in a toffee factory, training to be a teacher, having two babies and watching football. She began writing for children towards the end of the last century.

Helena writes books which strike a wonderful balance between humour and sensitivity. She is never afraid to address difficult issues such as homelessness - Vicious Circle - , mental illness - Jade's Story - and bullying - Getting Rid of Karenna. Helena draws her characters with such applomb that these books should be a must read for all younger adults. Also take a look at Helena's hilarious Never Ever.

Alex's Back Oxford University Press ISBN:0192753797	Brody's Back Oxford University Press ISBN: 0192753789	Clubbing Together Oxford University Press ISBN:0192754300

Oxford also publishes Helena Pielichaty's Simone series. The series began with the bestselling Simone's Letters, a collection of funny and often touching letters charting Simone Wibberley's final year at primary school. This was followed by Simone's Diary where we join Simone in her first year of secondary school. Last, but not least, came Simone's Website, where the school project is to design a new web page for the school.

Publisher
Oxford Children's Books

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North Tyneside (7th), Gateshead (8th)

Alan Temperley is a Geordie who left grammar school at sixteen and joined the Merchant Navy. He has sailed as deck officer, trawlerman and able seaman. After undistinguished National Service in the RAF, he studied at Manchester and Edinburgh Universities and went to teach English in the northern Highlands. This remains his spiritual home.

His first published work was poetry and short stories, for both of which he won national competitions. They have appeared in many anthologies.

Harry and the Treasure of Eddie Carver Scholastic 0439964008	Harry and the Wrinklies Scholastic 0439978378
Ragboy Scholastic 0439978297	The Brave Whale Scholastic 0439978858

His first book was TALES OF THE NORTH COAST (1977), a collection of oral tales from remote Sutherland which is still in print. It was followed by TALES OF GALLOWAY (1979) and MURDO'S WAR (1988), an award-winning teenage novel. In 1997 his children's story HARRY AND THE WRINKLIES was published. It was shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year and the Hachette Jeunesse edition won the Prix Chronos in 2001. It has also been made into a popular television series. Subsequent titles are RAGBOY, HUNTRESS OF THE SEA and THE BRAVE WHALE, all published by Scholastic Children's Books. An Arabian Nights style story, THE MAGICIAN OF SAMARKAND, was published by Macmillan at the beginning of 2003. HARRY AND THE TREASURE OF EDDIE CARVER, a sequel to HARRY AND THE WRINKLIES, will be published by Scholastic in 2004.

Alan lives in Hamilton, Scotland and enjoys English beer, Scottish country dancing, British wildlife and any day without rain.

Publisher
Scholastic

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North Tyneside (16th), Stockton (17th)

Website
www.keith-gray.com

31-year-old Keith was born and brought up in Grimsby and knew from an early age that he wanted to be a writer. When he received 0% for his accountancy exams he decided to pursue his dream.

He has since gone on to win the Angus Book Award and the silver medal in the Smarties Prize. He has twice been shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize and was shortlisted for the Booktrust Teen Prize and the Scottish Arts Council Book Award. Rave reviews about his writing have appeared in every broadsheet.

The Runner Young Corgi 0440866561	Creepers Red Fox 0099475642
Malarkey Red Fox 0099439441	Happy Red Fox 0099439522

Keith was a judge for the Blue Peter Book Award, the Guardian Fiction Prize and the Kathleen Fiedler Award. He has just been asked to judge next year's Booktrust Teen Prize.

He was recently interviewed on Radio 4 with Jacqueline Wilson about writing for teens, was featured on Live and Kicking, and his novel The Warehouse has been optioned for television. Keith is now a full-time writer living in Edinburgh.

Publisher
Random House Children's Books

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South Tyneside (8th), Sunderland (9th), Middlesbrough (10th)

A poet and singer/songwriter who also writes children's books. She has been delighting audiences at festivals around the country with her colourful and quirky performances of the 'Poetree' - a magical copper tree whose fruit are the most strange and wonderful imaginable.

Pick something off the tree and listen to the song, story or poem it inspires. Dip your hand in the 'Handbag Happiness' and help to write a poem for the tree - watch it be miraculously turned in to a song.

Publisher
Chrysalis

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Gala Day: Gateshead Civic Centre, Saturday November 19th

Mairi Hedderwick, illustrator and captivating storyteller, is best known for her Katie Morag children’s stories. The first of the Katie Morag books, Katie Morag Delivers the Mail was published in 1984 and, to Mairi’s surprise, was taken up as an excellent example of non-sexist children’s fiction, mainly because of the tractor-fixing, dungaree-wearing Grannie. ‘I wasn’t thinking of that at all. I’m used to women driving tractors; I did it regularly myself whilst living on the island’. But Grannie became a central character of the books, and the inspiration for her second book, Katie Morag and the Two Grandmothers.

The content for most of the Katie Morag books is loosely based on Mairi’s own experiences: Katie’s toys are those of her own children, Granny Island’s Rayburn stove was Mairi’s own, and the episode where Katie Morag throws her teddy into the sea is something Mairi admits doing herself – twice! As an adult!

Katie Morag and The Birthdays Bodley Head ISBN:0370328507	Katie Morag's Island Stories Red Fox ISBN:0099438569	Katie Morag Delivers the Mail Red Fox ISBN:0099220725

There are now a number of Katie Morag stories available including; Katie Morag and the New Pier; Katie Morag and the Wedding; Katie Morag and the Grand Concert; The Second Katie Morag Storybook, Katie Morag and the Riddles and Katie Morag’s Rainy Day Book, a bumper collection of activities, puzzles and things to make and do. More Katie Morag Island Stories, published in March 2004 is available now in paperback.

Mairi’s latest book, Katie Morag and the Birthdays, was published in March 2005. This is a brand new gift book which sees every character on the island celebrate their birthday!